Egypt Ties with Turkey Further Severed

Egyptian government officials have decided that they would no longer associate Egypt with Turkey. The announcement was made on Saturday, after the Turkish ambassador was expelled from Egypt for criticizing the country’s government. Officials say that Egypt will downgrade its diplomacy with Turkey until further notice.

The Egyptian ambassador in Turkey has returned to Egypt, reports indicate this move will be permanent. He had originally withdrawn from his job last August, but this was not official until recently. The Turkish government responded with equal disdain and have also announced that they would be severing their ties with the country. The missing Egyptian ambassador was declared unwelcome in Turkey.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan made a harsh statement in regard to current government of Egypt. He said that he would not be honored to deal with a post-coup government, and that he would “not respect those who do not respect the people’s right to sovereignty.”

The Egyptian Ministry commented on this by saying that while they respected Turkey and it’s people, they could not continue to have strong ties with a place that did not respect the Egyptian government and its actions. The continued disrespect and harsh criticism from Turkish officials and its people has been deemed unacceptable, and the Turkish government’s support of Egyptian protestors was a direct insult.

Erdogan’s original ties with Egypt were made with President Mohamed Morsi, who was removed by the army. Following his removal, Turkey and Egypt began to have difficult and unstable relations. Erdogan harshly criticized the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood, stating several times that the current government was invalid. He also expressed solidarity with civil protestors.

This situation marked a significant shift in Egyptian politics. Egypt has begun to sever ties with countries that supported the old government and has increased its alliance with countries that opposed President Morsi’s policies.

Although, the country made it known that it was not in support of the Egyptian government’s handle of civil protesters, Egypt maintains open relations with the United States. The United States itself is not on the best terms with Turkey.

However, when Egypt reinstated its alliance with Russia, the United States considered this retaliation for their criticism of the Egyptian army’s reaction to protesters. Despite this, United States Secretary of State John Kerry, has expressed his support of the Egyptian government. He has also openly stated opinions that are in direct attack of Morsi’s presidency and the Muslim Brotherhood as a whole.

Erdogan has not made any close alliances with the United States. Instead, he has looked to Islamist movements in other places as allies, instead of countries as a supportive aspect. He has contacts within such movements within Libya, Egypt and Syria. It is the movements in Syria that are fighting their current governmental regime, although conditions for the population have only continued to get worse.

Egyptian and Turkish officials have made no move to continue contact with each other or to work out problems. Both countries do not seem to have any desire to reestablish contact after further severing communication. No clear intentions on this move have been revealed.